1
THE NEW FRONTIER: Libraries seek new Technology Platforms for and End-user Discovery, Collection Management, and Preservation Marshall Breeding Director for Innovative Technology and Research Vanderbilt University Library Founder and Publisher, Library Technology Guides 11 September 2011 IGeLU

2
Abstract Marshall Breeding will provide his view of the changing landscape of library technologies. Academic, research, and public libraries experience great changes in the nature of their collections and in the expectation of their clientele. Increased involvement in electronic content and decreased emphasis on print collections press demand for tools that break away from traditional library management models and address a broader view of library collections. Libraries likewise face new imperatives to deliver end user interfaces consistent with that experienced elsewhere on the Web and that provide access to the entire span of library collections including print, local digital collections, and subscribed collections of articles, databases and e-books. Many libraries find themselves involved with content areas outside of traditional collections, including needs to manage or archive scientific data sets, and to deliver new types of services in support of research, teaching, or other strategic activities of their parent organizations. Traditional automation tools increasingly fail to meet expectations in this context. Breeding will discuss some of the issues and challenges involved for as new technologies emerge to address the changed realities of libraries today.

3
Library Technology Guides

4
International Perceptions Survey

5
ARL Member Libraries

6
Mergers and Acquisitions

7
Library Journal Automation Marketplace  Published annually in April 1 issue  Based on data provided by each vendor  Focused primarily on North America  Context of global library automation market

11
The New Frontier…  new phase of competition following a period of research and development that aimed to provide alternatives to libraries, both in back-end automation and end user discovery. A variety of new solutions have emerged, often representing quite different conceptual models. In a continued trend, librarians seek solutions that immediately improve the experiences of their users, especially via discovery products.

22
Cloud Computing  Major trend in Information Technology  Few organizations have core competence in large-scale computer infrastructure management  Essentially outsourcing of server housing and management  Usually based on a consumption-based business model  Most new automation products delivered through some flavor of cloud computing  Many flavors to suit business needs: public, private, hybrid

23
Library Automation in the Cloud  Almost all library automation vendors offer some form of cloud-based services  Server management moves from library to Vendor  Subscription-based business model  Comprehensive annual subscription payment  Offsets local server purchase and maintenance  Offsets some local technology support

24
Application Service Provider  Vendor hosting of traditional ILS  Technically Application Service Provider though marketed as SaaS  Continued reliance on Graphical Clients deployed on each staff workstation that need to be updated and synched  Vendor maintains individual instances for each library / site

25
Software as a Service  Multi Tennant SaaS is the modern approach  One copy of the code base serves multiple sites  Software functionality delivered entirely through Web interfaces  No workstation clients  Upgrades and fixes deployed universally  Usually in small increments

31
Open Systems  Achieving openness has risen as the key driver behind library technology strategies  Libraries need to do more with their data  Ability to improve customer experience and operational efficiencies  Demand for Interoperability  Open source – full access to internal program of the application  Open API’s – expose programmatic interfaces to data and functionality

37
Library Services Platform  Possible new term for the successor to the ILS  ILS now viewed as print-centric  Next Generation systems must serve as platforms to connect external systems as well as to deliver internal functionality  Delivered Functionality + library created extensions + interoperability

38
From local discovery to Web-scale discovery New models of Library Collection Discovery

50
Challenge for Relevancy  Technically feasible to index hundreds of millions or billions of records through Lucene or SOLR  Difficult to order records in ways that make sense  Many fairly equivalent candidates returned for any given query  Must rely on use-based and social factors to improve relevancy rankings

51
Open Discovery Initiative  Project underway to address issues related to information providers, discovery service providers, and libraries  Protocols for transfer of content  Transparency of what is transferred and indexed  Rights or restrictions on how discovery services use content  Initial meeting at ALA Annual  Proposal under consideration by NISO  “Proposed New Work Item: Standards and Best Practices for Library Discovery Services Based on Indexed Search”

55
Tablet computing  Tablet computers have been around for a while, but the introduction of Apple’s iPad increases popularity  High-quality device for content consumption  Access to library services and content